


Not So Black and White

by MaxDark158



Category: Original Work
Genre: Acephobia, Aromantic, Asexual Character, Bisexual Character, Canon Non-Binary Character, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Internalized Acephobia, Lesbian Character, Mommy Issues, Non-binary character, Pancakes, Pansexual Character, Twins, antihero, antivillain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 18:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14338956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxDark158/pseuds/MaxDark158
Summary: To the public, Olapireta Ophiel is the typical strong hero that saves the day, and Anaxerete is the shady villainess that kidnaps civilians for ransom. They don't seem to realize that Olapireta Ophiel isn't male or female, or that Anaxerete cares about them.Of course, the public fails to realize a lot of things.Like the fact that their biggest menace is a shipper trying to hook up her enemy.Idea from cassiopeiacaelis on Tumblr: https://tmblr.co/ZtOY0i2SvJhAo(This story on there too; MaxDark158)





	1. Week 9

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally on Tumblr and as of posting this, it's still there. Read the tags because I included a lot of diversity in as many ways as I could.

Chewing lightly on the end of her special pencil, Anaxarete watched and waited with impatience. What’s-their-name was as incredibly impatient as she was. The victim was beginning to pace in their cage.

That was a nice cage. Anaxarete worked hard for that cage.

“You better not scuff up the floor in that, I’ll need it later,” she grumbled. She returned the pencil to the spot behind her ear and leaped down to the floor. She saw the captive’s aura change, a slight tinge of fearful yellow mixing in with the bored light grey.

It was such an ugly color.

Luckily the captive stopped their inconsistent and messy pacing. It allowed Anaxarete to think as the hero took their sweet time.

Seriously, it’s been an hour and she had already scared this one. It was boring now.

“Olapireta Ophiel will save me,” the captive muttered, pronouncing the hero’s name wrong. Anaxarete tried not to grin. It was the poor hero’s pet peeve, having their name pronounced wrong. Anaxarete’s name was usually spelled wrong. But she thought it was relatively easy to say ANNA-XHER-EAT out loud as done in more cases.

“It’s O-LA-P-REY-TAH, OFF-HE-ELLE,” she pronounced carefully for the captive. She paused for a moment before continuing with, “and I’m counting on their arrival.”

The captive squirmed, more of the banana yellow color bleeding into their aura. Because that was Anaxarete’s thing, or part of it. Seeing auras, sensing when she was about to make a mistake, and capturing random civilians for Olapireta Ophiel to rescue.

Anaxarete was about to begin her own I-should-be-moving circles around the warehouse when she felt it; a sick feeling in her stomach.

Pacing would be a mistake.

Grinning, Anaxarete took out her pencil and played with it, the short piece of wood dancing in her one hand. “Olapireta Ophiel I know you’re there,” she called out, leaning against the cold steel of the cage.

Finally, another aura entered her vision. Brown and boiling with anger decorated with a tinge of annoyed Dijon yellow. It was an ugly combination that revealed Olapireta Ophiel’s hiding place to Anaxarete. Smirking, the villain rubbed the eraser of her pencil.

“About time you showed up Olapireta Ophiel,” she pronounced their name wrong on purpose as she spoke with a smirk. “I was worried I’d have to reheat your food with how late you were,” she joked.

Olapireta Ophiel’s large wings came into sight first. The brown feathers melted back into two dark brown arms. The body attached to the limbs dropped from its hiding spot in the abandoned building’s rafters. The hero stood, glaring at Anaxarete through their eye mask. Their suit was white with red boots, red gloves, a red Double O insignia on their chest and of course, the red mask Olapireta Ophiel was glaring at Anaxarete through. Their arms were bare so they could grow the feathered wings. Their wings were suitable for flight, which Anaxarete still thought was cool, not that she let it show.

“Anaxarete,” the hero growled, “I thought I told you to stop kidnapping random civilians for your little games.”

Anaxarete grinned, pushing in the eraser to her pencil and watching as the world changed around her.

“I thought I told you I don’t follow orders,” she chuckled dryly, watching as the floor beneath her shifted and moved, “especially those of reality.”

Olapireta Ophiel sighed, arms feathering themselves as they prepared for a fight.

~

Anaxarete sighed, marking her paper with a normal pencil. She lost the fight and the civilian was saved, which she planned. Yet, in this experiment, there was nothing unprofessional between Olapireta Ophiel and the random dude she picked up from the park.

Does the Shoe-Gum even know how hard they’re making Anaxarete’s life? She just wants to find the nonbinary pansexual a match.

She glanced at her trusty pencil. It was an option to make Olapireta Ophiel a perfect significant other. That flawed plan wouldn't work. She was the only one that believed in the pencil. Because of that, potential significant other would be invisible to Olapireta Ophiel. And even if Olapireta Ophiel could see the person she conjured up, why would they trust an aromantic asexual villain to get them a date?

Too many holes, flaws, and too much total nonsense. Anaxarete would rather pick up random people she found and hope for the best.

But it was like trying to hook up a freaking brick wall.

Huffing, Anaxarete glanced down at her paper. There she gathered a list or traits Olapireta Ophiel may have an attraction to. It was a list she gathered from watching every single interview and reminisced every memory she had of every battle with the winged foe.

She should try to find someone with those traits.

Next week though. Next week she’d try again, like she did last week and the week before that and the week before that. She had been trying ever since that day two months and one week, or nine weeks, or 63 days in the past.

She needed a break almost as much as the brick wall of a hero needed a date.


	2. Week 10-13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anaxerete is tired.

The next week is the same.

So is the next.

And the next.

And after the thirteenth week, the thirteenth try, the thirteenth kidnapped person Anaxarete could be found lying face down on the floor.

Why was she even doing this? She was a villain, spending time, resources and some money in trying to get her enemy a date. Was it just her or does that seem a bit illogical? Her thoughts circled for hours.

In the end, Anaxarete decided that she liked easily dividable numbers better than numbers like thirteen. She could do this for two more weeks.

Totally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	3. That Day (hour 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is a flashback

“So, what are you here for?” Anaxarete had asked Olapireta Ophiel as she sat on the cot. They were both in a holding cell of an old prison, currently taken over by a top-notch villain who didn’t like Anaxarete that much.

Olapireta Ophiel refused to answer her then, leaning against the wall and looking away. Anaxarete looked at the aura surrounding the hero, watching the stressed greys mixing with the banana yellow. It was an ugly color.

That might have been why she had talked. She wanted to get rid of the awful color obscuring her vision and derailing her thinking.

“You might be missing a date or something right now,” She muttered. She was glad to see some better-looking annoyed Dijon yellow take over some of the awful ugly grey.

“I’m single,” Olapireta Ophiel growled, brows drawn tight and posture tensing.

Anaxarete’s eyebrows furrowed, “How is that possible? Aren’t you a hero, a big hit with, well, everyone?”

Olapireta Ophiel sighed, as if this was a conversation the hero had already. “I’m non-binary, which despite me being pansexual makes it a tad harder for me to find a date.”

“So they/them pronouns?” Anaxarete asked immediately, wanting to be sure.

Olapireta Ophiel had looked surprised and maybe even touched when she had asked.

“Yeah…. They/them pronouns…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	4. Week 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anaxerete finds her OTP

Anaxarete stalked the victim for week fourteen.

The victim had a cool undercut, the hair on top of his head a neat shade of turquoise. They were wearing a white sweatshirt, but Anaxarete couldn’t see what was on the front of it from behind.

Despite the appearance of the victim, they weren’t drawing much attention. The almost empty street was a perfect place to nab them. Anaxarete’s lips curled into a smile.

She pounced.

~

“Noah Rawls,” she drawled, throwing the captive’s wallet across the room. She had absolutely no hope of this one catching Olapireta Ophiel’s attention but she had appearances to keep. That’s why she was waiting in another typical abandoned factory with a huge cage holding a civilian.

She glanced over to her captive, surprised to see little fear in his aura.

“Don’t you get tired of losing to Olapireta Ophiel?” the kid, Noah, uncrossed his arms and leaned against the bars of her cage. The front of his white sweatshirt held the image of a pride flag Anaxarete recognized as pansexual.

“If I did you wouldn’t be in that cage, would you sweetheart?” mocking dripped from her tone, and she watched the aura ripple into a more intense shade of that awful mustard.

Noah looked away, crossing his arms again. Anaxarete rubbed her pencil, waiting for Olapireta Ophiel to make their appearance. One more time after this. One more time then she’d move on to the next plan in her book.

“You do know the hero always wins, right?” Noah spoke again, annoyingly persistent and annoyingly annoying Anaxarete, “They’ll save me.”

“You know Olapireta Ophiel is non-binary?” she asked, genuinely curious. She heard many people misgender the hero many times and it was surprising to hear someone get it right without her correcting them first.

Anaxarete watched the surprised light purple swirl into his aura as an almost silent wing flap sounded.

“Anaxarete,” Olapireta Ophiel’s voice growled. Anaxarete pushed in the eraser to her wooden pencil, ready for battle number fourteen.

Turning to Olapireta Ophiel, she was almost hit immediately. She veered to the right. Luck was the only thing keeping her unscathed at that moment.

Because in their aura was more banana yellow fear, amber worry, and baby blue recognition.

A curl of pink was also there, barely. It was hard to see amongst the explosion of colors that almost hurt Anaxarete’s eyes to look at but it was there.

Olapireta Ophiel knew Noah Rawls.

Olapireta Ophiel liked Noah Rawls.

But she couldn’t exactly focus on that now as the blade-like feathers shot out of their wing at her. The floor sunk below her, helping her dodge, one of the feathers clipping her ear.

It was the first time she bled in one of their battles since that day three months and two weeks, or fourteen weeks, or 98 days ago. Her opponent was terrifying, not giving her a chance to banter or do much else then dodge.

~

She barely got away.

Even if she was bleeding and hurt and even though she would be worse off if they saw her again, Anaxarete circled back. She had to see them interact. She had to be sure.

For once in her life, she ignored her premonition warning her not to go forward. She wanted to know she needed to know if she had a new ship or not.  
“Are you okay?” she heard Noah Rawls say as the unmistakable squeaking of her cage opening sounded.

“I… I should be asking you,” the previously terrifying hero seemed to stutter, “How did you get kidnapped?”

“I took a walk. I know, shocker, but it was a nice day. I wanted to listen to my music by that fountain in the park,” Noah’s annoyed voice responded.

The two footfalls were getting closer to her.

“By the way, how did she know that you’re non-binary?”

They were almost in front of her. On a whimsical hope, she pressed in the eraser of her pencil, her belief in it shaking for the first time. They thought she was gone it had to work it had to work it had to work please work please work.

“It’s… it’s kind of maybe a bit of a long story,” Olapireta Ophiel’s voice shook as they appeared before her. Their was aura a flurry of happy emerald green, nervous straw yellow and that gosh dang pink that seemed to surround the two of them. It was still pink, but edging towards purple.

Anaxarete looked away, trying not to breathe as the two of them walked right past her, not seeing her between the two large crates.

But that conversation, the way they looked at each other, their auras at that moment… that was all she needed.

Olapireta Ophiel knew Noah Rawls.

Olapireta Ophiel liked Noah Rawls.

And Noah Rawls liked them back.

They had a crush on each other. A crush that was starting towards the beautiful shade of purple love she had only seen a few times in her life.

She didn’t need to forge a connection for her to exploit, she found one.

Anaxarete grinned, placing her pencil behind her ear and slowly coming out from her hiding spot.

Noah Rawls was going to be kidnapped again on week 16, then 21 and 25. She couldn’t kidnap him every week without it becoming too suspicious. She’d re-kidnap some others too.

And between kidnappings and evil plans, she’d train. She'd train for the next time she was faced with an angry Olapireta Ophiel. She’d get them closer if she could.

Then using this Noah Rawls and their cute love and their UST…

She’d win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	5. That Day (Hour 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback chapter.

Olapireta Ophiel’s posture and expression hadn’t changed in the time they had been here. But Anaxarete saw their aura had changed through their conversation.

“You’re not as evil as the other villains,” they made the mistake of telling her.

Anaxarete shook her head, a wicked grin finding itself on her masked face. “You’re trying to excuse my villainy because you’re seeing the human side of me, the side you can relate to. Don’t. Trying to excuse evil because you can relate to it only makes it easier for you to be the next villain. I am just as evil as them, and that’s why I’m more disturbing.”

Anaxarete looked up. Her feral grin sent a shock of banana yellow into Olapireta Ophiel’s aura, “Don’t humanize me. I’m in it for my own ending, a villain or my own purpose. You wouldn’t excuse Hitler for his actions if you found out he adored children, would you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	6. The Evening of Week 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically a text convo with the love interest and the hero

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Hey thanks for the save. Being kidnapped sucks. :(

_Brown Pidgeon:_ At least she’s only kidnapped you once. She tends not to kidnap twice, so I wouldn’t be too worried. ^^

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Still sucks though. She could at least give us, like, a chair in that metal cage, you know?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Speaking of, I’m sorry it took me so long to rescue you.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Hey NP. I got rescued by a SUPERHERO. Do you know how cool that is?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ You literally made my costume -_-

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Even more awesome! *0*

_Brown Pidgeon:_ I’m rolling my eyes.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Good to know.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Speaking of knowing, how DID she know that you’re non-binary?

**Annoying Blue Hair:** You never specifically state it in any interviews.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Did you tell a villain before you told your parents?

**Annoying Blue Hair:** O.O

_Brown Pidgeon:_ No!

**Annoying Blue Hair:** …

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Maybe

**Annoying Blue Hair:** …?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Okay yes, I did. She asked for my pronouns when we were both kidnapped by Slayer.  >:(

**Annoying Blue Hair:** You mean when Karma and Citadel rescued you?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ The Wonder Defenders, yeah.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** They’re like the toppest of top superheroes. You were in their presence?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Not for long. They just kinda threw the key at me. -_-

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Jerks  >:(

_Brown Pidgeon:_ They literally save the entire world with cool tech. Don't hate.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ I have to go. Try not to get kidnapped a second time :)

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Skew you -_-

**Annoying Blue Hair:** *Screw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	7. Week 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anaxerete has kidnapped Noah Rawls again

Anaxerete sat on top of the cage containing Mr. Noah Rawls. It was week 21, the poor boy’s third time being kidnapped. She had broken into his home while he was sleeping.

It was a little above what she was used to, but for the ship, she would.

“I noticed the pictures on your wall while I was breaking in. You have two little sisters?” she drawled, watching his aura through the top of the cage.

“Shut up,” he growled, hitting the bars. The brown anger and yellow fear increased.

Anaxerete smiled, leaping down to the ground, “They look like twins. Two little girls looking up to their big brother, waiting for him to come home…”

“I said shut up!” he growled again, grabbing the bars and glaring down at her.

Anaxerete was not deterred. She chose to turn her back and walk away with a smirk. Olapireta Ophiel was taking a while, which meant she got to rile up the captive more.

Lately, her foe had been more violent. Deadlier in their strikes and tactics. She suspected it was because of the boy currently glaring at her. She wasn’t going to kidnap him every time, but enough that they’d have to spend time with each other.

She knew from week 16 that Noah liked Olapireta Ophiel’s suit, and checking them out in it. She knew they both got the pink and purple feelings around each other. It was amusing to watch. They were so very blind to the love they had for each other.

“So why’d you kidnap me? I was in my home this time,” Noah growled bitterly.

Anaxerete shrugged, “You’re intriguing,” she smiled, “you’re not as afraid as everyone else. That’s odd and intriguing. Besides, having to remember new names is tiresome.”

She saw Noah roll his eyes in her peripheral vision.

“I thought you were one of the nicer villains,” he grumbled.

Anaxerete shook her head, her smile dropping. Before she could respond beyond that, she heard the faintest flap of wings.

“Ooh,” she turned to see a very angry Olapireta Ophiel, “looks like the star of the show is here. Looking good today Double-O!”

She didn’t pay attention to Noah’s sudden choking-on-air abilities. It was a cool new trick, but she preferred to ready her pencil for the battle.

Olapireta Ophiel would be hard to beat tonight.

~

Binoculars were really hard to come by these days. You can’t get good ones unless they’re expensive. Anaxerete thought the cost was worth it though since it enabled her to spy on her new OTP.

Olapireta Ophiel was dropping Noah off in front of his home. An older man that looked like his dad opened the door. Anaxerete could see the relived turquoise and the baby blue recognition in his aura. They hugged, then two small girls, the ones from the pictures, bounced up and hugged him too. The little girls were crying, and Anaxerete’s heart clenched. She kept the memories back though, focusing on the scene.  
They all thanked Olapireta Ophiel. She could see their mouths thank them over and over again. Olapireta Ophiel was embarrassed, and Noah was too. Their hands looked like they were itching to touch, but Noah went inside with his family.

Anaxerete almost followed Olapireta Ophiel as they flew off into the night. Almost. She decided not to. She had the night shift in a few minutes and her arm was still bleeding from being nicked by a feather blade.

~

Olapireta Ophiel grumbled as they peeled their mask off. It was always uncomfortable since it got all sweaty in battle. They immediately washed their face and put on some zit cream.

Zits were the worst evil on earth and not even Olapireta Ophiel could fight them without help.

Slipping on their T-shirt and jeans, they quickly put the suit away in the box under their bed. Footsteps approached. They grabbed a book, scrambling for a natural I’ve-been-here-all-day pose.

“Alex?” Their butler opened the door before smirking, “Your book is upside down.”

“I was seeing if I could read it upside down,” they said quickly, sitting up and putting the book down, “What’s up Brandon?”

“Your parents are on skype. Also, dinner is-“

Alex didn’t bother listening to the rest. Their parents called whenever they could. They texted constantly, but it was rare that they got to Skype. Sprinting down the hall, they turned into the computer room to see their parents on the large holographic screen.

“Mom!” they smiled as they sat down in the comfortable chair, “Oh dad’s there too.”

Their mom laughed at the joke and their dad fake pouted. “Looks like I’m not wanted here,” he sighed dramatically, wiping away a fake tear.

Alex’s parents were Makenze Day and Jacob Day, owners of Day Enterprises. Their dad was good at talking, so he ran marketing and such while their mom invented everything. She invented all the technology in their home. This included the portable hologram screen their parent's smiling faces were on.

“You’re wanted here dad,” Alex smiled, snapping out of their thoughts, “I just noticed Mom first.”

“Intelligence before beauty,” he dramatically sighed again, making their mom laugh. Alex smiled. Their parents still acted like they were in love, and it always made Alex smile.

“So how is my favorite daughter?” their mother asked, not noticing their flinch.

“I’m doing well,” they answered.

Their parents both frowned, “Sweetie what’s the matter?” their dad asked.

Alex decided to avoid the truth again. They knew their parents were very accepting of everybody, but would it be different if it was family? They weren’t sure…

One day they’d tell their parents about their gender… but that day isn’t today now is it?

“Noah got kidnapped by Anaxerete again,” Alex mumbled. They slid their eyes away from the screen, “I think she’s intentionally targeting him.”

Their mom gasped, “Sweetie I’m so sorry.”

“It’s horrible having to sit there, unable to do anything about it,” their dad grumbled. They looked up and saw their parent’s eyes were misty, “Maybe we can help.”

“Anaxerete isn’t a huge threat,” Alex shrugged halfheartedly, “She hasn’t ever harmed him in any way. Must be annoying for Olapireta Ophiel to rescue him a lot though.”

Can’t let their parents think they’re the ones running around in a suit, now can they?

“We’ll publicly thank the hero when we’re in town again,” their mom smiled, “Tell Noah we’re very sorry and we miss him.”

“Okay,” Alex sighed before smiling again, “when will you be back?”

“In one week. We’ll be there for three weeks!” their dad grinned wide.

“I’m so sorry we have to be away so much, baby,” their mom sighed, “Business sucks.”

Alex smiled, “I miss you guys. Love you.”

“Love you too darling,” their dad’s eyes teared up again.

“Miss you more every day,” their mom continued, “I wish we could be there more…”

“You’re here more than Noah’s mom is,” Alex attempted to comfort their parents. They immediately winced upon doing so of course. They knew his Mom was almost never around, always traveling the country for cases to win. She sent lofty checks to them so Noah’s dad didn’t need to work.

Their parents tried to be around. They knew their parents loved them more than money. That was something Noah didn’t really have.

“I should probably eat dinner before it goes cold,” they mumbled in a sorry attempt to change the subject. “You guys come home in one piece, okay?”

“Alright darling,” Their mom’s voice had less energy than before, “Love you.”

“Love you too,” they replied, blowing their parents a kiss before their dad ended the call.

Dinner was cold anyway, but they felt they deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	8. The Night of Week 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noah's little sisters

“Noah?” a small voice nudged him awake, causing him to groan.

“Maeve?” he mumbled, reaching for his glasses on his nightstand.

“And Hazel,” another small voice whispered from the other side of his bed.

Fingers finally grabbing onto his glasses, Noah slipped them on. He was only able to see their shapes in the moonlight, but he knew they were doing puppy eyes.

“Why are you up? He asked.

“You got kidnapped,” Hazel mumbled from his right.

“Can we sleep in bed with you?” Maeve asked quietly from his left, “The bad girl won’t try to take all three of us…”

“We don’t want you to be kidnapped again,” Hazel’s voice sounded like she was about to cry. She sniffed and Noah’s heart broke.

“Alright,” he conceded, pulling up the comforter, “But no talking about Alex.”

“Fine,” Maeve’s voice sounded watery too, but he could tell she was smiling, “we won’t talk about your crush.”

“I will toss you out of this bed young lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	9. Week 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hazel and Maeve get the spotlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a longer chapter sorry for the wait I was being lazy

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Answer your phone.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Anaxerete took my sisters.

~

“Daima,” She greeted the head nurse with a nod of her head. The head nurse nodded back shyly. Not wanting awkward silence, the woman complimented the head nurse’s hijab. Daima was gathering her tasks for the last bit of her shift, which could take a while. Besides, her hijab was beautifully patterned.

“Thank you,” Daima smiled slightly. Then she reached her coworker’s papers. Her mood shifted and dulled, adding the somberness back into the situation once again.

“What’s wrong?” she asked her boss.

Daima took a deep breath, "We have a little girl with leukemia for you today and... and it’s not looking too good."

The other nurse froze. Leukemia. That awful word. That nasty cancer. It sent chills down her spine and made her head spin and heart hurt. Of course it was leukemia.

“How long?” The nurse asked her boss.

“Doctor says about two months. The family can’t afford treatment beyond that,” Daima sighed, trailing off to mumble something about stupid capitalism.

The other nurse wasn’t listening. She was trying to do everything to block out the familiar story, short of covering her ears or banging her head into a wall.

“Autumn?” Daima snapped her friend’s attention back to her before handing her the papers. “You need to bring her food and check their IV levels. We’re keeping her here until her next chemotherapy next week.”

“Alright,” Autumn’s voice was hoarse. Her head was spinning and her heart was pumping with adrenaline she didn’t need. Queasiness hit her like a freight train but she refused to vomit. She was stronger than that now.

“Have you heard the impossible cure story?” Daima asked before Autumn headed off to finish her rounds.

“No,” Autumn frowned.

“I used to work in a hospital a few towns over,” Daima smiled at Autumn gently. It helped the other nurse to relax a bit, “And apparently a few years ago another little girl has leukemia. Chronic leukemia. She had it since before she could talk and walk and the doctors considered it a miracle that she lived to be five. Then one day, she walked out of that hospital, completely fine. No cancer cells detected. Nobody could explain it.

“So maybe instead of losing hope on this one,” Daima smiled at Autumn, “We remain optimistic? This one might be another miracle.”

Autumn knew Daima didn’t believe it, but she smiled and nodded anyway.

~

“At school today, we all made cards for you!”

“We got to deliver them since were your best friends.”

“No, it’s because you threw a tantrum until the teacher agreed to let us.”

“It’s a persuasion technique.”

“Thank you both. Which card is yours?”

Autumn paused at the little voices talking to the patient under her care. She smiled, recalling far too many children stationed here that didn’t have any friends.

Turning into the room, she bid a small hello, hating how the voices stopped in her presence. It was as if the little girls expected her to bring more bad news.

“I’m just bringing Jia her food,” Autumn turned to the patient’s visitors with a smile. They all had nervous straw yellow auras, though Jia’s was more pale with her sickness. “Carry on, although I do have to warn you that visiting hours end in thirty minutes.”

She left the room before the recognition hit of course. She recognized Jia’s visitors from the pictures in Noah Rawls room. The pictures of his family. The picture of his twin sisters smiling obnoxiously into the camera.

Those two were Hazel and Maeve.

Checking the time, Autumn realized she got off five minutes before visiting hours ended. She had just enough time to catch them on their way home. She presumed they’d be walking, their house was a short distance from the hospital. But she’d have to be quick in case they were meeting someone or being picked up. That was very plausible.

Reaching into her pocket, Autumn grabbed her pencil. It was week 25, over five months since that day. The original plan was to re-kidnap Noah Rawls again.

Change of plans.

~

_Brown Pidgeon:_ What? What do you mean Anaxerete took your sisters?

**Annoying Blue Hair:** They were visiting their friend at the hospital.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** I went to pick them up and they weren’t there.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Called Dad and the police then I saw on the news that Anaxerete has been spotted.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** SHE KIDNAPPED THEM

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Don’t worry. I’ll find them.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** I’ll help.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ No, you won’t.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** They’re my sisters!

_Brown Pidgeon:_ You don’t have powers.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Wait at home and be there for your dad.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Please.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ She’s probably doing this to get to you.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Fine.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Please hurry.

~

“Hazel. Hazel!”

Hazel groaned and covered her ears. She wanted to sleep a little longer, Maeve.

“Hazel Rawls open your eyes or I’ll tell Noah that you were the one that put glitter on his ceiling fan.”

Hazel’s eyes snapped open to the bright world around her. Then she glared at Maeve, or what she assumed was Maeve, “You held me up so I could, we’re both guilty.”

Maeve stuck her tongue out at her twin before glancing around the room.

It was then that Hazel realized she didn’t know where they were.

They were in a large cage like you see in all the stupid TV shows. It was about the size of mom’s walk-in closet she’s never around to use. Hazel’s mind scrambled to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why they were caged like animals when Maeve tugged on her hair.

“Stop it!” Hazel whispered.

“Hey, you two are up!” a way-too cheery voice spoke from across the room. Maeve and Hazel looked over to see Anaxerete hopping down from somewhere high with ease.

Hazel saw red.

“It’s physically impossible to land like a feather from that high,” she heard Maeve mumble before Hazel launched herself at the villain.

The bars were a problem though.

Here she was, growling and kicking and throwing a fight and these stupid metal bars kept her from actually harming the villain. The villain that has been kidnapping her favorite brother way too much.

“Hazel, save your strength,” Maeve tugged her twin’s braid again, and Hazel stopped her carnage on the steel bars. She had already scratched them up quite a bit. The damage was double, as her hands were bleeding.

“Here,” Anaxerete held out her hand through the bars. Hazel drew back, glaring at her with all her might.

Sighing, Anaxerete got out an old shabby pencil, “I can heal you. I didn’t want to hurt either of you,” she tried again, holding her hand out through the bars.

Maeve nudged her twin and Hazel accepted the villain’s hand. The two little girls watched with wide eyes as the masked woman healed the bloody fingertips and nails as if nothing had happened.

“Sorry you got hurt,” the woman muttered, backing away, “And I’m sorry about the cage. I have to keep up the theme and tying people up can leave rope burns.”

“Why do you kidnap people then?” Maeve asked. Hazel kept touching her fingers, wondering if this was real.

“You’re healed,” Hazel’s attention snapped to Anaxerete, “Believe me. As for the kidnapping, it’s usually to annoy Olapireta Ophiel.”

“Why are you kidnapping our brother?” Hazel shouted, Maeve’s hand on her shoulder the only thing keeping her from launching at the masked woman once again.

Anaxerete smiled, “Do you two know what ‘shipping’ is?”

Hazel knew Maeve was nodding.

“Well, I happen to ship your brother with Olapireta Ophiel,” she finished warily. Maeve sees her grip onto her pencil tighter.

Hazel gets angry once again, “No way. He has a crush on-“

“Does he stare at their butt?” Maeve asked, catching both Hazel and Anaxerete off guard.

“Uh, yes I think so. I’m more focused on not dying when they’re both in the room but he might’ve glanced…” Anaxerete stumbled over her words, her eyes bugged out and staring at the little girl in the cage.

Hazel turned to Maeve with wide eyes.

Maeve raised an eyebrow.

Hazel covered her mouth as she gasped.

Maeve nodded.

And they both knew.

“If you’re kidnapping our brother for a ship,” Hazel turned back to Anaxerete, “Why did you kidnap us?”

Anaxerete sat down in front of the cage, the ground around her sinking so she was at eye level with the twins. “I wanted you two to know I would never intentionally hurt your brother. I don’t even try to hurt Olapireta Ophiel. I don’t like hurting people.

“I knew you two are probably worried whenever I kidnap him so I wanted to tell you personally that I won’t lay a hand on your brother,” the villain finished.

Hazel looked at Maeve.

Both girls had tears in their eyes.

“If you won’t hurt him or us or even your enemy,” Maeve’s voice was wobbly while she talked, but strong, “Why are you a villain?”

Anaxerete’s smile seemed a tad less friendly this time, “I’m in the game for my own end, my own goals. The only difference between me and your typical Destroyer is that I don’t consider lives invaluable. I simply approach my goals in different ways.”

“So even though your evil plan is working and you’re winning without winning, you won’t hurt us in the crossfire? You won’t hurt Noah or A- Olapireta Ophiel?” Hazel asked. She needed to be sure this dangerous person wasn’t going to hurt her brother or his future spouse.

“I won’t try to hurt him. I’ll even heal him if he gets hurt anyways,” Anaxerete’s smile seemed less dangerous this time.

Maeve and Hazel met each other’s eyes once again.

~

_Brown Pidgeon:_ I can’t find them.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** WHAT

**Annoying Blue Hair:** WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

_Brown Pidgeon:_ It means I’ve checked all her usual empty warehouses and they’re all empty.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ I’m still looking.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** I’ll help.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ I said no.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Stay with your dad.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Okay?

~  
“How is she?” Anaxerete froze when she heard voices, quickly relying on her pencil to turn her invisible.

“The cancer patient?” Daima’s voice sounded, the footsteps getting closer.

“No. Well yes but not what I meant exactly. Er, I meant Autumn…” Anaxerete covered her mouth as they turned the corner and walked by her. They had no reason to believe she was there, they wouldn’t see her.

“Why?” Anaxerete wasn’t seen despite being inches from her boss. Daima was talking to Rosa María, the youngest nurse on the staff. Anaxerete knew her well, she got the girl her job. She needed to support her family.

“You told Autumn about her, right?” They were almost down the hall, but Anaxerete froze when Rosa María, said that. Was she? No, she wasn’t…

“Yes…” No Rosa María don’t please.

“Don’t you know-“

Anaxerete spared a moment to mentally scream at Rosa María for mentioning anything about that. About leukemia. About what it did. But she didn’t waste long, turning the hall to their destination.  
Glad she couldn’t be seen by cameras, Anaxerete took a deep breath once she was alone. She probably needed to take more of her anxiety meds, she had been busy all evening.

Olapireta Ophiel was taking too long to find her and the twins. Anaxerete wasn’t sure why, she chose an obvious spot in her opinion. But after an hour and a half, 90 minutes or 5400 seconds of waiting with the twins, Anaxerete grew too bored to continue. She had to do something after that and it took up a lot of time.

Anaxerete shook her head, reminding herself to get back into the present. The faded aura in the room was awake. She can’t see auras of people when they’re asleep. Jia was worried straw yellow and fearful banana yellow. It was hard to tell the difference between the two because of the sickly fade, but she was both.

Walking through the wall, Anaxerete took off her mask to seem less threatening. She still had her suit on, but she forgot to bring a spare change of clothes, sue her.  
“Who are you?” Jia asked. Anaxerete smiled, walking closer to the light.

“Hey Jia,” she whispered, “I’m just someone who wants to help.”

Jia was looking at her suspiciously. The girl's eyes were narrowed and her lips were in a pout. “You mean help me like the doctors or help me like the bald man talking money and organs with Papa and Dad?” she asked.

Anaxerete got on her knees and looked up at Jia, “I don’t think doctors and bald men wear purple and green,” she smiled.

Jia sat up, “Why are you here then?”

Anaxerete bit her lip. This was the important part. She couldn’t fail another child. She couldn’t when she could help. Grabbing her pencil, she placed it on the hospital bed’s edge. She placed it where Jia could see it in the low light.

“I’m here to heal you. But if you want me to, you have to believe I can.”

~

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Doesn’t matter

_Brown Pidgeon:_ What do you mean it doesn’t matter?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Hello?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ NOAH

_Brown Pidgeon:_ NOAH RAWLS

_Brown Pidgeon:_ NOAH PLEASE ANSWER

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Stop

**Annoying Blue Hair:** It’s okay

_Brown Pidgeon:_ What?

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Ending

_Brown Pidgeon:_ *Explain

**Annoying Blue Hair:** They’re home

_Brown Pidgeon:_ What?

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Anaxerete brought my sisters home.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Bull

**Annoying Blue Hair:** She did.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** They’re completely fine too.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** Maeve said she healed Hazel’s hands.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Anaxerete can’t heal, though.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** IDK. But they’re home and they’re fine…

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Are you okay?

**Annoying Blue Hair:** No.

**Annoying Blue Hair:** I’ll tell you if I’m okay tomorrow.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Noah you can’t just say that like I won’t be worried.

_Brown Pidgeon:_ Noah?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	10. The Day After Week 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Hazel and Maeve's spotlight moment

“Doctor, you need to do one final scan before taking her in for chemotherapy,” Autumn lied through her teeth. But the doctor was new, and she had been working there for much longer. It helped that Daima and Rosa María were behind her. They were probably confused as to why she was lying, but she’s done this before and been right. At this point, they knew to accept it.

The doctor shrugged and nodded, complying with her reminder.

Autumn smiled at Jia, and she smiled back.

Her aura was brighter than ever.

~

The erratic beeping in Noah’s ear didn’t startle him like it usually did. It woke him up from his restless sleep of course, but he wasn’t startled. He was however quick to slam the snooze button so his sisters didn’t wake up. Then he grabbed his glasses. The girls slept like angels all night, but they kicked him in his sleep. Not that Noah cared. They were home. They were fine.

They were fine.

They were completely fine.

He repeated the mantra in his head as he got dressed and combed his hair. The blue was starting to get a bit dull. Noah would have to buy more dye soon. He wanted the blue vibrant in case his mom came home to throw a fit about him dyeing it.

Walking out of the bathroom back into his room, he paused. His sisters were in his bed, tangled in the blankets and sleeping soundly. Noah reached over and brushed his fingers over Maeve’s face, then Hazels.

Solid. Real.

Alive and just fine.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, he was glad that it was Friday. He’d pool together some of his allowance and take them to a carnival over the weekend or something. He’d probably invite Alex. Maybe not since they’d insist on paying for everything. Maybe though, they probably felt guilty for not saving them.

On his way out of his room, his eyes glanced toward his inspiration wall. Drawings of clothing ideas, color schemes, pictures of clothes he’s designed and everyone he cared about covered it completely. It inspired him to design when he had time to.

Noah shook himself out of his little spiel and left his room to go to the kitchen. He pulled out his phone, shocked to see not that many texts or missed calls from Alex. He assumed that they’d blow up his phone. But one missed call and two unread texts aren’t that different from the norm.

Opening the texts, Noah felt a pang of guilt from his last one. He shouldn’t have ended the conversation like that. God, he was such a jerk. No wonder Alex didn’t like him as more than a friend.

He called them as he got out a pan for the pancakes. He always loved making these, his sisters would crack pan jokes all morning.

Alex answered on the first ring, “Hello? Noah?”

“Calm down,” he smiled as he spoke despite his voice being rough from sleep, “I’m fine, Alex. I’m okay.”

They sighed on the other side of the phone. Noah felt another stab of guilt.

“Are they okay too?” Alex asks.

Noah chuckles, putting the phone on speaker so he could mix the batter, “They were up for an extra hour talking about their day. It wasn’t bad, according to Hazel. Maeve told me Hazel tried to attack her-“

“What?”

“You heard me. Apparently, Hazel saw Anaxerete and got mad because she’s kidnapped me before. She tried to attack her, but only ended up tearing her nails apart on the metal bars,” Noah cringed at the visual.

Alex hissed, “And Anaxerete… healed her?”

“Well, her nails are just fine. And both girls claim she healed Hazel. Do you know how hard it is for them to agree?” he asked jokingly.

“Anaxerete can’t heal though…” Alex’s voice broke off in a mumble.

“Mumbles says what?” Noah called into the phone as he poured water into the mix.

“When Anaxerete and I were captured together she didn’t heal herself. She wasn’t powerless though,” There was movement on Alex’s end, and Noah suspected that they were pacing.

“Her energy didn’t leave with whatever weapon they took off her?” he asked, pouring some pancake batter into the pan before realizing he forgot to pour a little oil in it.

“No, she’s the one with powers…” Alex suddenly groaned, “I am so in trouble,” they muttered.

“What? What’s wrong?” Noah asked, scraping the pancake into the trash. He walked over and got the oil as Alex spoke.

“I didn’t tell my parents where I was going. It’s nearing the end of their time here and they probably wanted to do something with me.”

“You mean when you searched for my sisters?” Noah asked. If he felt shameful before he was a disgrace by now. He didn’t think of Alex at all when Hazel and Maeve went missing, stupid stupid stupid…

“I know you’re calling yourself stupid right now so please understand that I wanted to look for them.” Alex practically growled the words into the phone, making Noah spill a bit extra oil into the pan, “They’re my family too Noah.”

There was a pause. It was awkward and Noah hated it, but he couldn’t think of what to say.

Of course, Alex has been family since they were kids. Alex has been there for all the nights when his mom was gone, and the worse ones when his mom was home. He was there for Alex when they realized they weren’t a girl. Alex helped bleach his hair for dyeing and he helped bleach their hair. They’ve babysat and played with the twins together for years. He knew Alex’s parents thought of him like another child. He forgot sometimes that Alex was similar in that way.

And like that an idea sparked.

“You were helping me. What if I come over for dinner and tell your parents just that?” he asked, flipping the pancake before it got too dark.

“Explain.”

“My sisters were kidnapped by this city’s top villain. You helped me with emotional support and in the frenzy forgot to tell them where you were,” Noah smiled, spinning the spatula in his hand, “It’s not lying.”

“That’s… that’s actually a good idea,” Alex snorted, “I didn’t think you were capable of those.”

“Hey!” Noah pretended to be angry as he poured a new pancake into the pan.

“But seriously, thanks…”

“Alex it’s not a problem. We can plan it out better at school,” Noah hastily wiped the spilled batter off the stove.

“You about to wake them up?” Alex asked.

“Yep. Good luck.”

“You too,” they hung up. Noah finished the pancake in the pan before turning down the burner. He went back to his room to wake the twins up for school.

Maeve was a morning person. She didn’t wake up sleepy and was ready for a fight upon opening her eyes. Hazel was a different story. She’d sleep for two days straight if Noah let her. He usually woke Maeve up first so she’d help him get Hazel up for that reason.

Shaking her slightly, Noah backed up when Maeve swung her arms, almost getting his nose. “Noah?” she asked, wide awake and sitting up before groaning, “is it time for school?”

He nodded sadly, “I made pancakes though!”

“The pansexual made pancakes with the pan?” Maeve snorted.

Noah smiled and nodded. He reached over and shook Hazel’s shoulder, the movement not rousing her in the slightest.

“Go make more pancakes, I’ll wake her up,” Maeve made a shooing motion with her hand.

“You sure?” Noah asked.

“I’m sure. I’m better at waking up Hazel, you’re better at making pancakes,” she smiled brightly.

Noah reached out and touched her arm before leaving. Just to be sure she was real.

She was.

A few minutes of making pancakes later, Maeve came out fully dressed pulling a still pajamaed Hazel into the kitchen. Hazel was dragging his blanket with her, looking at the world with hate in her tired eyes.

“I went to wake up daddy too,” Maeve sat down at the small kitchen table, “he was already awake though. I think he was writing his book all night.”

“Of course he was,” Hazel and Noah grumbled at the same time, making all three of them laugh.

He continued flipping pancakes, tuning out the girls’ quiet conversation. He got them their plates, butter, and syrup. He even delivered a plate to his dad and got his own. If he had listened to them while he was doing this, maybe he wouldn’t have been so shocked as he was when he turned off the burner.

Because it was at that moment that Hazel shouted loudly at him, “Noah we know Alex is Olapireta Ophiel.”

But he wasn’t prepared.

So he froze.

~

Noah’s hands shook slightly as he parked the car. It was technically his mom’s car, but she hasn’t been home in years. When Noah got his license, his dad all but gave it to him. It was a nice car. Easy to drive, comfortable to sit in. He liked driving it out to nice places and designing clothes on the roof.

But his hands still shook a bit. Not because of the car, but because he was kind of scared of Alex. He hadn’t seen them since yesterday and so much, so much happened since then.

Would they squeeze him to death with their super strength? Would they fly him to the top of the highest building and drop him?

These were not irrational fears when your best friend and crush was a superhero with powers.

So, feeling slightly like he was walking to his death, Noah headed to their typical meeting spot. There were a good twenty minutes before school started, plenty of time for Alex to get away with murder. He should’ve probably told his sisters he loved them and hugged his dad goodbye. 

Was he being overdramatic?

Most likely.

That didn’t stop him from typing his will into his email drafts as he walked to the meeting spot.

“Noah Phillipe Rawls!” Alex’s voice made him jump and he made a mad grab for the phone he dropped. They caught it, super reflexes and such. Noah looked up and met their eyes, suddenly realizing that he is at the mercy of a superhero. A superhero that can make his death look like an accident.

And the only thing he can bring himself to say is, “My middle name isn’t Phillipe.”

He was going to die.

Here come two arms crushing him-

Oh, wait this was a hug. They were hugging him.

Right…

Noah scrambled to hug back. Alex’s hugs were always safe and warm. Most of the time they tried to avoid squeezing because of their above-average strength, but this time they clung on.

They hugged for a few seconds until someone wolf-whistled nearby. Alex let go, turning to the source of the sound. Noah stepped back awkwardly, also looking for the culprit.

His eyes drifted to where the sound came from. Nadia Peke, one of their other friends, was standing there. A smug smile was on her lips and hands were on her hips.

Of course.

Nadia always wore flowers in her hair and a leather jacket on her shoulders. She was the type of person that could make anything seem awesome by being near it.

And she always insisted that Alex liked him back.

Alex was glaring at Nadia with all their might while she approached. Noah had no idea how she walked in those platform heels but he wasn’t about to ask.

“I thought you two hated PDA,” Nadia was smirking. Alex’s mouth was opening and closing, and Noah was scrambling for something to say. They didn’t get the chance to though, as Nadia turned to him, “I heard about your sisters. Are you okay?”

Noah nodded, “I’m okay now. They’re fine. Anaxerete didn’t lay a hand on them.”

Nadia opened her mouth to respond when her phone started blaring a Halestorm song. Noah smiled in satisfaction, knowing that Alex introduced Nadia to the band. He wasn’t sure where they heard of it though. Nadia walked away, talking to whoever called her.

“That was probably her girlfriend.” Alex nudged Noah with their elbow, “All the band kids are going to that competition a state over.”

Noah nodded in agreement. He knew Alex was just making conversation, but the weight of what they weren’t talking about nearly made his shoulders sag. He wasn’t one to skirt around problems either.

As Alex handed back his phone, he muttered, “Don’t freak out.” Quickly making sure nobody was around to hear, he continued, “Hazel and Maeve know you’re Olapireta Ophiel.”

“WHAT?!”

Noah quickly covered Alex’s mouth with his hand, “I said don’t freak out. They won’t tell anyone either. But apparently, Anaxerete told them that I was close to Double O and they put two and two together. They told me she has no idea who you are in real life either. You’re fine.”

He removed his hand from Alex’s mouth and stepped back so they could get the freak out done and over with. He’s been friends with them for years, he knew the script.

Their eyes were wide. Noah was scared that they mentally tapped out until they nodded. “So figuring out my identity must run in your family, huh,” they laughed weirdly like they couldn’t believe it.

Noah laughed weirdly too, “I guess,” he mumbled.

Alex took a deep breath and checked the time, “Five minutes to figure out a game plan for talking to my parents. Seven if we sprint to class.”

Noah narrowed his eyes, “I’m not running.”

Alex rolled their eyes, “Nerd.”

Noah stuck his tongue out at them, “Jerk.”

“Hey, be nice to your superiors,” Alex raised their eyebrows.

Noah rolled his eyes and started leaning on his car, “I’m older.”

“I’m taller,” Alex stood up straight, lording their two-inch difference over Noah once again.

“That was one time the universe messed up,” Noah snarked, making Alex laugh. He smiled when he heard it.

“Four minutes,” Alex managed between giggles, leaning on the car next to him.

“I don’t get why we need a plan,” Noah grumbled, trying not to focus on their shared body heat right now.

“It was your idea!” Alex reminded him.

Noah snorted. Trust Alex to remind him of these things. “I don’t think we need to plan anything though. I mean I go to your house, eat awesome food, tell your parents that their child was with me when my sisters were in a metal cage, then have the fancy dessert. No biggie.”

“You’ll have to use the wrong pronouns.”

Noah scowled, looking away, “I don’t get why you won’t tell your parents.”

Alex snorted, “Like you told your mom?”

“My mom wants a future scientist or president of a son with natural colored hair and a girlfriend on his arm. You know she’s not exactly accepting of things other than ‘Straight Future Important Person’. Your parents are accepting of everyone no matter what. It’s not dangerous for you to come out,” Noah finished, looking back at Alex.

Alex shrugged, looking away, “It’s scary. How am I supposed to tell them that their daughter isn’t their daughter? The only reason my enemy knows is because she asked for my pronouns.”

They were silent for a bit. Noah wasn’t sure how he could argue further, to be honest. The way he came out to his dad was sewing the pansexual flag on all his handmade clothes. Alex couldn’t exactly do that, they were an ally since as long as Noah could remember….

“Fine,” he conceded, “I’ll use the wrong pronouns,” no matter how awful he felt doing it.

“Thank you,” Alex mumbled, leaving their little spot against his mom's car.

Noah mirrored their actions and headed to class, thoughts swimming.

~

Citadel sat on a rooftop, enjoying the nicely made sandwich. He made this sandwich. And it was nice.

“You better not be writing a sonnet for your sandwich,” a voice spoke from behind him. 

“I only write sonnets attempting to describe your beauty, dear,” Citadel smiled at the woman.

She scoffed, but he knew she was blushing. “I thought we agreed I’m the smart one and you’re the pretty one,” she sat next to him, taking his sandwich and taking a bite.

“I am very pretty, but that doesn’t make you not pretty,” he took his sandwich back, taking another bite.

She snorted, “That is a very good sandwich by the way.”

“Thank you,” he grinned, his eyes flicking over the city. “You know the last time we did a major mission here, it was when that deranged maniac kidnapped all the heroes and villains within a 100 mile radius.”

“Mhmm,” Karma grabbed his sandwich, finishing off the last of it, “He was a pretty big American villain. Usually terrorized New York and such. No idea what he was doing in Portland, Oregon.”

“Remember all those heroes and villains he kidnapped?” Citadel shivered, “Never felt so much power in one place.”

Karma hummed again, messing with her wrist teleporter, “You ready to talk about it?”

Citadel played dumb, “talk about what?”

Karma scoffed, “Sweetie you puked as soon as we gave that winged hero the key. You were sick for two weeks. What about them, about their powers that only you can sense, made you so violently ill?”

“It wasn’t…” Citadel shuddered, “It wasn’t the hero that made me sick.”

Karma raised an eyebrow, “Olapireta Ophiel was the only one I saw in the cell.”

“Their foe was in there too, in the corner,” Citadel paused, trying to muddle through all the villain names he knew. “Anaxerete.”

“Her energy made you sick,” Karma asked, scanning around them as if the villain was nearby.

She wasn’t. Citadel would sense if she was. 

“Yes, her energy made me sick,” he mumbled, looking up to the clouds rolling across the sky, “At first it was sweet, you know? But then it was so overpowering that it became sour, and it took weeks to get the taste out of my mouth.”

Karma raised an eyebrow, “Energies have a taste?”

Citadel rolled his eyes, “No. But that’s what it felt like.”

Karma nodded, eyes roaming over the city once again, “We will be needed in France soon. Le Tueur des Humains is getting out of control.”

“I know.”

~

“How do you hide your wings as a civilian?”

“Do you have super strength?”

“Are your arms feathery?”

“Guys,” Noah interrupted the twin’s interrogation, “Let them answer.”

The twins wanted to visit their friend Jia. Her chemo was a few hours ago and they wanted to check on her. Jia was their best friend, and Alex hated the chance she had at making it…

Alex tuned back into reality before they got sad.

“Sorry,” Maeve apologized while Hazel leaned forward, elbows on her knees and chin in her hands. Alex knew that look. Hazel was planning something, the little brat.

But they conceded and answered the twin’s questions.

“My feathers retract back into my arms. They only come out when I will them to or when I’m terrified. Yes, I have above average strength, but not lift-a-building strength. Maybe I could lift a car. Maybe. If I stretched first.”

“And your arm?” Hazel asked, batting her eyelashes all-too innocently. “That’s why you wear long sleeves, right?”

Alex groaned but pulled down their sleeve to show an average black American arm. “The feathers completely retract when I’m not scared or willing their appearance. I wear long sleeves most of the time because of your brother jump-scaring me at school. That’s kinda the last place I want to sprout wings.”

“I’m testing your reflexes,” Noah defended himself.

“And one day I’m going to accidentally snap you in half because of that,” Alex grumbled. Maeve giggled and Hazel snorted.

Noah shrugged like they weren’t serious.

“Can you fly upside down?” Maeve asked with stars in her eyes.

Alex shrugged, “Yeah, but it takes a lot of concentration. I have to flap my arm-wings up instead of down.”

“Have you ever kissed someone while flying upside down?” Hazel grinned maliciously.

Alex’s eyebrows shot up to their hairline and they felt their cheeks redden. Noah coughed awkwardly as he turned the car.

“Hazel! Obviously, they haven’t,” Maeve scolded, “Alex hasn’t had their first kiss as Alex why would they do so as Olapireta Ophiel?”

Alex hid their face. Why were they discussing their love life, or lack thereof?

“You’re right!” Hazel shouted. Alex wasn’t watching but they knew she was grinning evilly. “Maybe Noah should do som-“

“OH LOOK WE’RE HERE!” Noah yelled suddenly, “aren’t you two worried about Jia?”

That was all the prompting the two girls needed. Immediately they unbuckled and scrambled to get out of the car. Alex knew they were worried, even if they didn’t show it.

Slowly, they and Noah got out of the car too. Noah checked them into the visitor's section and they headed to Jia’s room. Alex knew Noah was embarrassed. They were too. But it would go away if they didn’t talk about it.

Well, Alex hoped the crush would, but they had a feeling it would just be the embarrassment that left.

Alex looked around at the walls. They were once colorful, they remembered the walls being colorful. They were a bit duller now, probably since it’s been years…

Noah knocked on the hospital door. It was opened. Only unlike Alex expected, it wasn’t one of Jia’s fathers that opened it.

It was the girl herself.

Jia who was standing in overalls and a light blue t-shirt, peach fuzz hair on her head and smile on her lips.

“Hazel! Maeve!” she shouted, launching herself at the twins and hugging the life out of them. She seemed much stronger and healthier than normal people that just came out of chemo…

“Jia, sweetie, let them in,” Mr. Szeto, Jia’s stepdad asked gently. Jia let go of the twins and ushered everyone in, positively bouncing with energy. She tugged Hazel and Maeve to the other side of the room to show off her drawings.

Alex turned and raised an eyebrow at the man, “How was the chemo?”

Mr. Szeto looked positively ecstatic, “There’s no cancer.”

Noah’s jaw dropped, “wHAT?”

If possible, Mr. Szeto smiled wider, “They took one more scan before the chemo. There isn’t a single cancer cell in her entire body. They took it several times with different machines but there isn’t any cancer at all. My husband is getting her discharge paperwork… it’s a miracle.”

Alex grinned, watching Jia make paper airplanes with the twins, “You must be really happy.”

Mr. Szeto nodded seriously, “Quadir was absolutely terrified. He watched it happen to her mother, then her… It’s a miracle, and neither of us will look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Noah nodded, excusing himself to break up the brewing fight between the young girls. Alex smiled at Mr. Szeto, “I’m glad she’s okay. So is Noah by the way, he’s just shocked.”

“I know. Quadir hasn’t quite processed it either,” Mr. Szeto chuckled, “It probably won’t hit him until later. He’ll have his panic attack then.”

“Sounds like you love him,” Alex grinned. They loved seeing happy couples.

“I do,” Mr. Szeto smiled at them, “You and your boyfriend have something similar, I see.”

Alex’s eyes widened, “Uh… what?”

Mr. Szeto frowned, “You and the blue-haired boy?”

Oh god, would the embarrassment ever end? “We’re not dating…”

Mr. Szeto narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe them. He didn’t say anything else though. But that was because then the nurse and his husband walked in with the discharge paperwork.

Alex raised their eyebrows at the nurse. Their fuzzy memories of this place snapped into focus at her face.

That was Nurse Autumn.

She was telling Mr. and Mr. Szeto where to sign. Alex remembered her doing something similar with their parents almost ten years ago. She didn’t look much older, but she had been quite young at the time.

Alex wanted to say something. But what would they say?

Thanks for helping me believe in myself?

Thanks for telling me I don’t have to be a girl?

Thanks for making me realize I wasn’t exactly human?

It was better to stay quiet. So instead, they decided to help Noah. It sounded like he wasn’t doing too well in resolving the fight.

Odd though, how that woman was near two miracle healings.

~

“Noah!” Makenze Day hugged him as soon as she saw him, “Alex didn’t tell me you were visiting!”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Noah quipped. He hugged Jacob Day as soon as he saw the man, “You don't get to be home too often. I figured I’d let Alex have you for a few days before I steal th-her parents.” Noah flinched as he used the wrong pronoun, but Jacob had already let go of him.

“Ha, ha,” Alex grumbled dryly, “You didn’t tell them you were coming because you forgot, turd.”

“You’re right,” Noah let the feeling of fear and desperation from yesterday wash over him, so it wasn't a complete act. “It’s been stressful lately.”

“No, dearie, what happened?” Jacob asked, gripping his shoulder, “Do we need a group therapy time?”

Alex and Noah chuckled, remembering the days when they were fighting as children. Jacob would have all four of them sit down and talk out their fights until they were friends again. Noah used the technique on his sisters often.

Makenze jumped up, “I need to tell the cook to make extra for you!”

“I already did,” Alex smiled, “I have his number mom. When I found out Noah was coming here I warned him.”

Noah raised his eyebrow, “You have the cooks number?”

“And why didn’t you tell us Noah was coming?” Jacob asked.

“So it would be a surprise,” Alex put plainly with a shrug. Noah rolled his eyes at their aloofness. Alex always did this when they were uncomfortable.

“Makenze, Jacob… Alex told me you wanted to know where… where she was yesterday?” Noah decided to just get it over with. Dinner would be more fun without the dramatics.

Both of them nodded. Alex inched closer, and Noah took a deep breath.

“My twin sisters were kidnapped by Anaxerete yesterday… I called Alex for emotional support until they were returned home.”

Jacob sprung up and hugged him, Makenze only a second behind. Noah was soon smothered by the Day family when Alex joined in.

“I need to breathe,” he breathlessly managed to say.

“I’m so sorry,” Makenze was the first one to pull back, “Alex told us you were being kidnapped too. I didn’t think that nasty wretched thing would go after your sisters…”

“She’s targeting him,” Alex growled.

“Maybe,” Jacob and Makenze made eye contact before Jacob looked away. “I’m sorry for you, darling. You must feel so useless in these situations.”

Noah tried not to laugh, “I have been saved by Olapireta Ophiel a lot. They’re the coolest thing ever!”

“They?” Makenze asked.

“I heard from Anaxerete that Olapireta Ophiel is non-binary,” he ignored Alex’s silent suffering, “The news refuses to call it that though. “

“I love seeing heroes like this,” Jacob grinned, and Noah could see his inner fanboy come out, “So many people assume heroes are straight and cis. This is awesome. They’re already my favorite.”

Noah cleared his throat so they wouldn’t notice Alex blush, “So what have you two been up to?”

“You don’t need to change the subject,” Makenze grabbed his hand, “Are you okay?”

Noah nodded, “I am now”

Makenze nodded, going in for a hug one more time. Jacob followed. Soon they were talking about Noah’s recent clothes designs and Alex’s pottery ideas. Makenze talked about inventing a teleporter. Jacob gave Alex poetry writing tips for an English assignment. Makenze asked Noah if he’d design a technology-based clothing line for her company.

He nearly called Makenze ‘Mom’ almost as many times as he almost said Alex’s true pronouns.

It was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


	11. Week 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Sanchezia

Anaxerete watched the victim she planned on kidnapping for week 26. 182 days, over six months since that day. The day she and Olapireta Ophiel were both taken by that stupid villain and rescued by the stupider heroes. It has also been 12 weeks, 84 days and almost three months since she found out about Mr. Noah Rawls. And one week, seven days, 168 hours since she kidnapped and returned Hazel and Maeve Rawls.

She was about to move towards the target when she got that sudden sick feeling. Anaxerete hadn’t felt it in a while, but she knew what it meant. She should not move from her hiding spot.

Sometimes hated the way she told the future. Feeling nauseous whenever she was about to make a mistake freaking sucked. It was a useful skill, however, so she didn’t complain. Much.

Anaxerete scanned her surroundings. She tried to find what would make it dangerous for her to come out of her hiding spot.

She felt sick again and rolled away as a spear of ice impaled itself in the roof she was on. She dropped her binoculars, hearing them crack on the concrete below.

C’mon! Those were expensive.

She didn’t dwell on it long. Anaxerete grabbed her pencil, watching the world change around her. The roof she was on sank, allowing her to dodge another spear. What was going on? She ducked again, the nauseous feeling guiding her ducks and dodges.

The ice was impaling the walls and the ground she kept manipulating to her needs. Her attacker wasn’t afraid of collateral damage.

Anaxerete panicked when she realized that meant her attacker probably wouldn’t care if other people were in the way.

Crap.

Anaxerete quickly turned her pencil invisible and hid it in the pocket she sewed into her suit. Jumping up, she landed like a feather on the rooftop and put her hands up. The world returned to normal around her.

Already she could see civilians were hurt by the ice daggers. Their auras were that terrified neon yellow she hated mixed with some surprised purple. Anaxerete felt awful.

She shouldn’t have dodged.

Why did she think of herself first?

Looking at the direction all the weapons came from, Anaxerete saw a person dressed in red, orange and yellow spandex. They floated on what looked like a moving platform of water. A quick glance at the daggers proved that they weren’t ice, but solid water. The person had solid water handcuffs, an angry brown aura and a glare on their face.

“I’ll go with you if you leave these people alone,” Anaxerete growled. She heard gasps and she was pretty sure someone had their camera out but she didn’t care.

She’s a villain, not a monster.

The person across from her nodded. They walked on the weird solid floating water to her and handcuffed her. Anaxerete did spit on them when they were close enough, double checking the civilian damages.

“I can heal the people you damaged first,” she found herself saying. None of the injuries were life-threatening but some were bad. That leg would take at minimum sixteen stitches.

Her adversary growled, “They’re fine,” and snapped the handcuffs around her wrist. Anaxerete stomped on the person’s feet before they covered her eyes, taking her to a place unknown.

This was going to be fun.

~

“Hazel, you’re my sister and I love you. But if you don’t give me the remote I will remove your hand.”

The news blared on the television behind the two girls, currently engaged in a standoff. Hazel was stood on the back of the couch, holding the remote as high as she could. Maeve didn’t resort to such antics, instead crossing her arms where she stood on the floor.

“I want to watch the fashion channel with Noah. You know he hates sports,” Hazel rebutted. Maeve sighed and rolled her eyes, running her hands through her loose hair. Hazel always took the pathos argument.

“Noah’s working on the chemistry project he put off until now and the Utah Royals are playing the Chicago Red Stars in a few minutes!” she reminded her twin with her own logos argument.

“Why do we always have to watch what you want to watch?” Hazel pouted. Maeve knew without looking that her twin had engaged in Puppy Eyes Mode.

“You pick most of the time Hazel,” Maeve debunked her sister's argument once again. “The only time that you notice you pick six out of eight times is when I want to pick one time. The game’s supposed to be really close and I didn’t get to watch the last one!”

“Because Anaxerete kidnapped us right?”

“No, because there was a penguin in the house. Of course it was because Anaxerete kidnapped us,” Maeve rolled her eyes again. She looked at her sister, waiting for a response when she realized that Hazel was focused on the TV once more. Maeve turned to see what she was looking at.

“Anaxerete kidnapped by a masked person we’ve only caught glimpses of before,” The newscaster was saying. She was an older woman with white streaks in her dark braided hair and wrinkles. What she looked like didn’t matter because what she was saying caught the attention of the two girls. Hazel screamed for Noah to watch, and he scrambled in as the reporter started again.

“Yes, you heard me right. Instead of our villain kidnapping someone new this week, she’s been kidnapped herself. We have no identification of this vigilante, they are only known by previous photos. They did, however, leave five children, one elder and two adults wounded, three critically. We are met with a new side of Anaxerete in this footage taken by an amateur on site.”

The footage started. The camera wasn’t very good and it shook a lot, but you could hear what was going on very well. Anaxerete was battling someone in red, orange and yellow spandex. They appeared to be throwing water around.

“Since when was water sharp?” Maeve asked, cringing when a little kid was pinned to the wall by a shard of moving river.

“Their color scheme does not match aquatic powers at all,” Noah grumbled.

“I’ve never seen her fight before,” Hazel added. They watched Anaxerete sink through the ground before rolling out on top of it.

“She’s not. She’s dodging,” Maeve corrected. They watched as Anaxerete realized that people were getting hurt.

“I’ll go with you if you leave these people alone,” Anaxerete growled to her attacker. Several people gasped in the crowd, including whoever was holding the camera.

The other person nodded, not speaking. As they handcuffed Anaxerete with water, they heard it.

“I can heal the people you damaged first,” Anaxerete’s voice was quieter but distinct. Maeve began to shake, silently begging Anaxerete to heal them and clean up all the blood.

“They’re fine,” her kidnapper growled, making Maeve gasp and Hazel growl. Noah was silent but still, like he was about to explode.

Maeve got a lot of joy from the pain on the awful person’s face as Anaxerete stomped on their foot.

Hazel didn’t waste a second jumping up, “Get Alex on the phone.”

~

Anaxerete felt a hand grabbing at the hood around her head. She refused to cry out in pain when it tugged a good chunk of her hair while pulling it off. The hand, of course, belonged to the person that just took her off a street after hurting at least seven people.

“Before I get real angry I’m going to ask for your pronouns. I want to insult you without being an awful person,” Anaxerete sneered. She gave a light, experimental tug at the water handcuffs. They were solid.

“You say that like you aren’t one already,” the person snarled. Their aura seemed to pulse. The shades of mustard yellow annoyed, brown anger and straw yellow nervousness mixed and unmixed together. After a moment of silence, they muttered, “She, her.”

“Okay. You are an idiot,” Anaxerete sneered, making a big show of her anger. It wasn’t that much of a show, to be honest. “A complete and utter moron. Could you not spare five minutes so I could heal everyone? What if they can’t pay for stitches? What if they lose their jobs because they’re unable to perform anymore? You do realize we were in a poor section, right? These people are already trash in the eyes of billionaires they don’t need to be trash in front of villains.”

“Me, a villain?” The girl laughed once, the laugh that wasn’t meant to be funny. “I’m not the scum of the earth here.”

“Well, you’re not a hero. A hero doesn’t leave innocent people to die, trashwad.” Anaxerete already had one or two functional escape plans, but she needed to know where she was.

She couldn’t plan much further when the ‘hero’ grabbed her throat, teasing it with the edge of a waterblade.

“I’m not a soft hero. I don’t let anything interrupt me and my mission,” the girl snarled. Anaxerete pretended to gasp for breath while looking for details. There was a flask on her left leg. So she’s right-handed and can’t make water out of thin air…

“I’m better than OIapireta Ophiel,” she continued. She dragged the water blade lightly over Anaxerete’s skin, not hard enough to cut anything. Her aura was mostly ruby red pride at this point. Anaxerete continued playing the I’m-about-to-die-role. She didn’t care about what this chick was saying honestly. She just wanted to go home, sit in a warm blanket and listen to her music on high until her eardrums burst. Then heal, rinse and repeat.

The girl lets go of her neck, and Anaxerete pretended to gasp for air. If she continued appearing as if she was less of a threat maybe she’d get out faster.

“When I heard of your latest kidnapping,” she sauntered away, her voice echoing on the walls. With her back turned Anaxerete took the opportunity to look around. Schoolbag in the corner, meant to be hidden from sight. The bag was a newish model, about five months, so it’s not old. It looked expensive. Like a gift. Judging from the way it was treated, not a well-received one. An apology or welcoming gift maybe? “I decided it was time a real hero, a better one stepped in,” the girl spoke and Anaxerete tuned back in.

“And that hero is you?” Anaxerete scoffed, “no offense sweetie but you don’t even have a name.” She had a name of course. Anaxerete didn’t know it, but she’d seen the headlines of this girl being glimpsed in the past few months. She was new enough…

“I’m Sanchezia you absolute moron,” she growled, getting a square sort of device out of her bag.

“Like the flower?” Anaxerete’s mind was reeling. The pieces started falling into place. She started adding up the facts in her head, making a plan.

“Duh,” the girl rolled her eyes, turning on her device. It screeched, and she scrambled to silence it.

“What’s that?” Anaxerete asked with snark. She wasn’t bothering to hide her hate for this girl. She was clearly on the younger side, probably a teenager. There wasn’t a graduation ring on her finger. For sure younger than her and Olapireta Ophiel, who had to be at least 20.

Well, she doubted that one just a tad but she tried to put it on the back of her mind. Her goal wasn’t to find out Olapireta Ophiel’s identity, even if she could in less than 24 hours.

“It’s a bit like an EMF meter, measuring-“

“Measuring the power waves emitted into the air by supers or normal people. Really it’s a fancy EMF meter with a few extra wires and a bit of Chrystal Quartz, although Lolite can also be used,” Anaxerete couldn’t help but finish for her. She loved the idea of combining non-explainable things with modern technology.

“You’re smarter than you look,” the girl sneers.

“You’re dumber than you look,” Anaxerete responds tiredly, “You’re going to tell me you scanned my powers and it came up empty and you’re wondering why-“

“No,” the girl cut her off, “It literally overloads in your presence. You’re giving off so much power you’re almost breaking my machine by being near it. So how?”

Anaxerete was a bit surprised by that one. When she scanned herself, she didn’t even get a reaction.

That was before she put on the suit though.

Anaxerete chose not to answer.

“It doesn’t make sense,” The girl began to pace. Anaxerete allowed herself to roll her eyes at the incoming monologue. “I don’t mean to brag, well actually I don’t mind, but I’ve tested this on Citadel, Karma, Olapireta Ophiel and a god. You’re higher than all of them combined. So unless you are some deity of the universe or harnessing its energy, there is no way this is right. But my machine’s never wrong.”

Anaxerete shrugged, slapping her best I-couldn’t-care-less smile on.

The girl growled, “I know you’re smart now. So why do you positively reek of power and not use it?”

“You’re right, I am smart,” Anaxerete leaned forward, tilting her head. Time to get her Sherlock on.

“I know you have water-related powers. I am guessing from your flask around your left thigh that you can’t make your own which means for your comfort we are probably surrounded by water. Probably one of the islands in the middle of the river that runs through the middle of the city. You took a lot of wrong turns on your way here, so I know you’re not from here. I’m thinking that you’ve recently moved here about three months ago because the first sightings of you were ten weeks ago. You’re scared of this place being messed up. That’s why you’ve taken action, right? Because you’ve moved so much and it’s never worked out. I know you’re younger than eighteen but probably older than fifteen. If I had to guess, seventeen. Perhaps you’re a part of the foster system, one of the kids that goes from home to home to home,” Anaxerete grinned, “How did I do?”

Dark purple surprise and banana yellow fear was a weird but not bad combination in the girl’s aura.

“I could probably figure out your identity in a day or so, you know,” Anaxerete drawled, enjoying the change in the girl’s aura. “I could’ve figured out Olapireta Ophiel’s a long time ago, but they haven’t given me a reason to. You have though, darling.”

Anaxerete hated seeing fear when it wasn’t necessary or deserved. She loved seeing it though, at this moment. She reveled in the adrenaline pouring into the teenager’s veins. The girl's eyes were widening and the aura was almost lighting up the room in terrified neon yellow.

“Tell you what sweetie,” Anaxerete leaned forward with a grin. “Since I’m probably right because you haven’t moved since my little monologue about your life, I won’t dig deeper. If, and only if you let me go without me answering your questions.”

~

Anaxerete watched the young girl glide away on a hover puddle. It was kind of weird but she didn’t care.

Her plan worked.

Grinning, she turned to leave the island when Olapireta Ophiel landed on the ground in front of her.

“I haven’t even kidnapped anyone,” Anaxerete groaned, throwing her arms into the air.

“No,” Olapireta Ophiel grumbled, rolling their eyes, “Hazel and Maeve sent me to make sure you’re okay.”

Anaxerete blinked, “What?”

Olapireta Ophiel’s aura was a mustard colored annoyance as they stared at her. They seemed to be trying to read her, but Anaxerete didn’t care.

“You’re lying right?” She laughed nervously. She didn’t care. Not that much.

Olapireta Ophiel squared their shoulders, “No I’m not. They seem to like you.”

Anaxerete’s throat felt clogged. Maybe she accidentally swallowed a mouse… or an elephant. She refused to cry though. She could not would not and shall not cry.

“Okay,” she croaked.

Olapireta Ophiel brought out their wings again, “I assume you’ll be resuming next week?”

Anaxerete nodded numbly. “If you’re worried or anything, the kid that kidnapped me was trying to play hero all wrong. If they try again can you-“

“I’ll teach them.”

Anaxerete nodded again. “Right… say hi to your boyfriend for me.”

Olapireta Ophiel grumbled under breath, a blush pink coloring their aura. Embarrassed, they flew off.

Anaxerete didn’t wait too long. She had victims to heal.

~

Autumn was back at work. Six of the eight victims had been healed, believing in her ability to heal them. The other two needed some convincing, but Autumn as Anaxerete managed to heal them too. She apologized at least a thousand times to each before leaving, but she still felt guilty.

She also felt a bit of an emotion she hadn’t yet identified. It kept bringing her back to the thought of two little girls being worried for her well being. After she kidnapped their brother. And them.

Autumn snapped out of her thoughts quickly though. She didn’t need to think about that thank you very much. She was perfectly fine checking IV levels.

“Autumn,” Rosa María suddenly grabbed her shoulder, pulling her into the women’s restroom. “I need to talk to you.”

Autumn raised an eyebrow at her straw aura and whispered loudly, “Is this a secret meeting?” She was kidding of course. But being silly distracted her from those icky emotions.

Rosa María glared at her, annoyed Dijon yellow mixing with her banana. “This is important tú idiota.”

Autumn nodded, “I know.”

Her colleague glared at her again. Taking a deep breath, Rosa María blurted out, ”I told Daima about –“

“I know,” Autumn shrugged, looking away. “I understand why you did it. But I’m not sure I can trust you with anything ever. Ever, ever, ever. Especially not with the frozen yogurt machine I might’ve heard about that might be in the breakroom maybe before the week is out,” Autumn grinned.

Rosa María grinned back, knowing Autumn wasn’t mad. Autumn wasn’t the type to stay mad at people.

Her face suddenly fell, “Wait you knew? That means you healed Jia the night before her chemo? And you were probably right next to us too!”

Autumn put her hands up, “guilty.”

“Wait you got kidnapped,” Rosa María started checking Autumn’s arms for bruises, “I saw it on the news. How’d you escape?”

“Ooh, do I have a story to tell you,” Autumn grinned, “It’ll be after work though. I want to see your family again, it’s been forever.”

Rosa María rolled her eyes, “It’s been three days, mi amiga.”

“Three days too long!” Autumn responded, waving to Rosa María as she walked off to do her rounds.

She heard the nineteen-year-old laugh behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the read and maybe I'll see you again for the next chapter.


End file.
